Retro Runback: ‘Wave Race’ – Another Game Nintendo Loves to Forget About

Nintendo has a rich history of franchises. Mario, Zelda, Metroid. The big 3. All of them capable of carrying a particular moment in time for any one of their consoles. All three have. But then there are the games that Nintendo kind of picks and chooses when to acknowledge their existence. Star Fox, F-Zero, Wave Race. And the latter is the one we’re focusing on in today’s Retro Runback. Because there is no reason that Wave Race: Blue Storm is the most recent entry we’ve gotten.

‘wave race’ Went from launch title to not mentioned at all

First things first, even today, the water effects in Wave Race: Blue Storm hold up. It’s truly impressive how well they worked at the time. Because the fact of the matter is, if your water sucks, the game will, too. You literally cannot fail in that regard, and Nintendo didn’t. Now you will hear some people say that the game was pretty difficult. And yeah, that’s true, the controls did take some getting used to. But they weren’t prohibitive in any way.

You had a selection of eight racers that accounted for various skill types. So, you could always find the one that controlled the best for you. Once you got into the game, it was fast and frantic. I always found it hilarious playing Wave Race: Blue Storm with other people because you can tell who expected this to just be Mario Kart on the water. And that’s a quick way to be all over the place and in last place.

Nah, you had to come off that gas sometimes, be gentle on the control stick, use the shoulder buttons to make the turns, and anticipate the waves. Once you got the hang of it, though? The game controlled beautifully. It’s just a massive adjustment from what most are used to. I’d love to see the Wave Race series make a return on the Switch 2 as a new game — and bringing Blue Storm to Switch 2 Online. It’s time to dig a little deeper into that bag, Nintendo, the people want it. Run this back.